


Again, Again

by Methoxyethane



Category: Tales of Zestiria
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Childhood Sweethearts, First Dates, First Love, M/M, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-21
Updated: 2020-07-21
Packaged: 2021-03-05 01:47:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,254
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25416406
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Methoxyethane/pseuds/Methoxyethane
Summary: Sorey hasn't seen Mikleo since he left for France five years ago. When he sees him again, Mikleo is even more lovely than he remembered.
Relationships: Mikleo/Sorey (Tales of Zestiria)
Comments: 3
Kudos: 55





	Again, Again

The library was pretty much always Sorey’s favorite place in the world, no matter what library he happened to be in. When he was a kid it had been the long hours he’d spent in the public library in Elysia, reading and rereading all the books in the history sections until he’d had them all but memorized. Now it was the library attached to his college, with an even greater selection of non-fiction books for him to pour over, until he spent nearly every moment of his free time perusing the library shelves for books he hadn’t read yet.

Which is why it was an odd thing he’d never seen him before just now. After all, if this really was the person Sorey remembered, he’d have been in the library just as often as Sorey was.

Sorey had just been returning a book to the shelves when he saw the flash of familiar pale blue hair, tied into a ponytail and swinging down someone’s back. When the stranger turned around Sorey was met with a face he knew better than his own, one he hadn’t seen outside of his dreams and photographs in over five years.

“M-Mikleo?” He stuttered out, fingers digging into the cover of his forgotten book.

Mikleo’s eyes widened, and a look of surprise bloomed over his face as his eyes passed up and down Sorey’s body. “Sorey… I didn’t think I’d see you here.” He swallowed thickly. 

And Sorey hadn’t expected to see him. 

It had been over five years since he had seen Mikleo last. The two of them had grown up together, known each other since they were babies raised side-by side by mothers who were best friends with each other. They had been best friends themselves, except for one little problem.

The part where Sorey had been in love with Mikleo since they were five years old.

Now, that wasn’t such a bad thing by itself. He kind of liked being in love with Mikleo - it was fun to just be with him, and it felt pretty nice to be so close to someone you cared about so much. In fact by the time he was almost fourteen Sorey had had the confidence to finally confess his love, thinking he might even be lucky enough that Mikleo felt the same… Only for Mikleo to tell Sorey he was moving to France with his family, and they’d probably never see each other again.

It had been devastating, but Sorey had kept up a good face for it. Made Mikleo promise they’d keep in touch, promise to write and call as often as he could, and for a while he did. For a while. After months the phonecalls slowed down and the letters stopped entirely, Mikleo leaving Sorey’s messages on read for weeks and months until a year after his leaving Sorey and Mikleo stopped talking to each other at all.

It was heartbreak like Sorey had never known before or since. Talking to Mikleo had been the highlight of his days, and without him Sorey felt hopeless and adrift, falling into a deep funk that only the encouragement of his friends and the hope of realizing his dream of becoming an archaeologist managed to ever pull him out of.

After years of not talking to him, Sorey had no hope of ever seeing Mikleo again. But now here he was in the flesh, standing in the library of Sorey’s very own college…

And looking more beautiful than he ever had. 

It just wasn’t fair.

“Does that mean…” Sorey asked hesitantly. “That you didn’t want to see me?”

Mikleo’s face flushed, and he quickly shook his head. “N- That’s not it!” Dipping his head down to hide his eyes behind his bangs, he continued, “I couldn’t… By the time I knew I was coming home to attend Avarost College, I didn’t know how to get in contact with you anymore. I didn’t know for sure you’d come to this school at all, and…” 

“And?” Sorey asked, overwhelmed with the shock of seeing Mikleo again after so long. 

“...And I wasn’t sure you’d want to see me at all. So I didn’t look for you, either.” Mikleo finished, looking ashamed.

“Mikleo…” Sorey stepped forward, resisting the urge to touch Mikleo, to tip his chin up with his fingers or sweep his hair out of his face. “Of course I wanted to see you again. That’s all I ever wanted,” he admitted, unable to help the genuine outpour of his emotions right now.

Mikleo looked a tiny bit devastated, eyes huge and teeth biting into his lower lip. “Sorey… I’m so sorry. You don’t deserve the way I treated you, you never did.”

Sorey winced a little, not exactly wanting to be reminded. “Then… Why did you do it? Why did you disappear on me? I was so worried, and I never knew what I did wrong...”

A deep sigh fell from Mikleo’s lips. “It’s not like I wanted to… I just. It got too difficult, not being able to actually see or spend time with you, knowing we might never meet again. I thought it would be better… I thought it might hurt less if I just sort of. Disappeared.” Quieter, he added, “I was wrong.”

“No kidding you were wrong,” Sorey said, a little harsher than he meant to. “I just… missed you so much, Mikleo.”

Mikleo’s face softened, and he met Sorey’s eyes again. “I missed you, too.”

Sorey stared at Mikleo for a long moment, taking in the changes time had brought. Other than his obviously longer hair, he looked different than Sorey remembered. His jaw was sharper and his face less round, and he was taller than Sorey had probably ever expected him to get. His eyes, though, his eyes were exactly the same as they’d ever been, and Sorey was just so glad to be able to look into them again, that ultimately, all the pain and heartbreak he’d felt over the years was instantly forgiven. Mikleo had been in just as much pain as him, after all - Sorey knew he wasn’t lying when Mikleo said he had missed him.

“I think,” Sorey said eventually, before standing there and looking at each other like fools got any more awkward. “That you owe me, for what you did. I was in a lot of pain, you know. You at least need to recompense for how much you forced me to miss you.”

A delicate eyebrow raised. “Oh? And what is it that I can do to repay you, do you think?”

Sorey flashed him a grin, as charming as he was capable of being. “I think you owe me dinner. Tonight, after classes get out. And you owe me your new phone number, too.”

Mikleo’s face was soft, eyes glowing hydrangea-purple under the library lights. “You’re not going to let me get away again, are you?”

Sorey gave into the urge to reach out and place a hand on Mikelo’s shoulder. “Not a chance.”

\--

Sorey wanted to take Mikleo to the nicest place he could afford, and in town that was the Ladylake Inn. It was one of those fancy hotel restaurants with a live band on weekends, and while dress codes weren’t a problem waiting lines to get in usually were. Luckily Sorey knew a girl who knew a guy, and with a couple of phonecalls he had a table ready and waiting for him when it was time to pick Mikleo up.

Granted asking for this favor meant he had to explain to Rose about his Mikleo situation, and since she was his best friend in the world the mere invocation of Mikleo’s name brought raised eyebrows and a lecture about getting is heart broken a second time. And Sorey knew that should probably be a concern, but… he just wasn’t worried about it. The gain of being with Mikleo even for just a little while far outweighed any fear Sorey might have about him leaving again.

Not that Sorey wasn’t feeling nervous. This was the love of his life, after all, it was only normal to feel a little apprehensive before seeing them again. He just hoped he didn’t disappoint Mikleo with the person he’d become, or scare him off with his… intensity. 

But when he met Mikleo again in front of his dorm building, all that fear just kind of melted away at the sight of him. Mikleo was more beautiful than even Sorey’s most flattering memories and fantasies, smiling lightly when he saw Sorey walk up.

“Hey,” he said simply, like the very act of him standing there wasn’t bowling Sorey off his feet. 

Well. Not that Mikleo would know that, as all Sorey managed to actually convey of how he was feeling right now was a simple, “Hey,” back.

“So, was there somewhere in particular you wanted to go, or are we just seeing where the night takes us?”

“Oh, I’ve got a plan all right,” Sorey assured him, itching to reach out and take Mikleo’s hand but somehow managing to resist. “If the gentleman would follow me to my car, there’s a little place in town I had in mind that I think you’ll like.”

“Ooh, impressive. I didn’t think you’d be able to afford a car in this economy.”

Whether he was teasing or serious, Sorey laughed. “Believe me, it’s definitely a struggle.”

“I know all about it. That struggle is why I ride the bus,” Mikleo said, politely not commenting on the slightly junky state of Sorey’s car as he ducked inside. “Well. That and I learned to drive on the other side of the road.”

Sorey laughed, getting into the driver’s seat and settling in. They bantered a little more on the drive over to the restaurant, and Sorey was relieved and relaxed to find that talking to Mikleo was still so _easy_. 

Mikleo even had the decency to look impressed when the hostess led them to their table with absolutely no wait, seating them near the band where there was a floor set up for a few patrons to dance if they saw fit. Sorey thought it was a pretty good table, being close enough to watch all the happy couples swaying casually on the dancefloor to the lazy piano of a smooth jazz band playing in the background.

“This place is nice,” Mikleo commented with a look of mild surprise. “I know you said I owe you dinner but I didn’t think you’d take me for a ride on that offer.”

“Oh no,” Sorey shook his head, “Since coming here was my idea I was already planning on paying for it. I was mostly joking when I said you owe me dinner, I just wanted an excuse to see you again.”

Mikleo’s face flushed in the prettiest little blush, and he averted his eyes. “W-well, do you have a job? I’d feel bad if you were going out of your way to take me here… Maybe I should at least pay half.” 

“No, it’s fine, I actually do have a job! I work as a museum tour guide over in the Dummonia Museum. It’s not as much fun after the fortieth time as it was the first time, but I’m good at it and it pays my way through school.”

Mikleo smiled, “Really? That sounds just like you. And it sounds a lot more fun than my job, which is mostly translating instruction manuals in between English and French.”

“And that’s not fun?” Sorey asked, genuinely interested. “If I was good enough to speak two languages that fluently, I’d definitely find some way to have fun with it.”

“I did try. For some reason they look down on adding puns into your translations.”

Sorey grinned. He was just trying to come up with some kind of pun he could say in response when the waitress found them, and they had to stop and give their orders before they could continue the conversation.

“So,” Sorey asked when she stepped away. “France. Did you love it? Did you hate it? Why did you come home?”

Mikleo bit his lip, but Sorey could hear a little snicker sneak out of the corner of his mouth. “That’s a lot to ask at once. France was amazing. It took a long time to learn the language and culture, and I still got made fun of for being too American all the way through high school, but aside from like… the people and their attitudes, everything was beautiful.”

He took a sip from his water, giving a deep sigh before he continued. “But there were a lot of reasons to come home. I missed the food, I missed my family, I missed America, and really, there weren’t actually any colleges specializing in anthropology and premodern linguistics like I wanted to study anyway, so it was kind of a two birds with one stone throw on coming here.”

“So you did settle on anthropology after all,” Sorey confirmed cheerfully. “I’m glad to know you didn’t have a change of heart on that.”

“And you?” Mikleo asked, curiosity lighting up his violet eyes. “Did you end up studying archaeology, after all?”

Sorey nodded eagerly. “It’s always been my dream. I want nothing more than to discover ancient ruined cities and learn about how the people there lived.”

“I only they’d let us dig under Paris,” Mikleo smiled. “We’d learn so much and lose so little.” 

They shared a laugh at that one, and joking around with Mikleo felt so natural and so easy, Sorey wanted to keep doing it for the rest of his life. Which, yes, he knew was a little on the too-fast side of things, but… this wasn’t meeting and having dinner with just anyone. This was _Mikleo_. Sorey had known he wanted to spend their entire lives together since he was about six years old.

Dinner was served, and they chatted more as they ate. 

“How did you get us into a nice place like this, anyway?” Mikleo asked, eyes turned to the band. “No offense but we should have at least had to wait for a table, shouldn’t we?”

“Ah, that’s because of my friend Rose,” Sorey explained. “Her family has connections to places all over town, including this place. I was able to call in a favor this time, but if we ever wanted to come back we’d need an actual reservation.”

Mikleo snorted a laugh at that, and it made Sorey smile. “I’ll be sure to remember that.” He picked at another bite of his chicken parmesan, which he looked like he was enjoying. “So is Rose a good friend of yours? I don’t think I’ve ever heard the name.”

“She’s my best friend! I met her at the beginning of high school, so we had already lost contact by the time I made friends with her,” Sorey answered with unreserved cheer. “We like almost none of the same things but we hang out all the time anyway. It’s harder now that we don’t have like, the same classes and lunch period anymore like we did in school, but we make time to meet.” Mikleo nodded, and Sorey asked, “What about you, Mikleo? Did you make any friends over in France?”

Mikleo made a face Sorey could only describe as mildly disgusted. “Yeah, just one. _Zaveid_ ,” he said the name like it was personally offensive to him. “He was my only friend, and to be honest I kind of hated him.”

Sorey had to laugh at that. “If you hated him, why were you friends with him.”

“Because he wasn’t so bad ALL of the time. Just like… for most of the time. But then he could be nice, whenever he wasn’t being an annoying perverted douchebag.”

That made Sorey pause. “Perverted? Was he like… creepy?”

Mikleo had a considering look. “No, he was too stupid to be genuinely creepy. Mostly he was just annoying.” 

“So how did you meet him?”

Mikleo’s face flushed an adorable bright red, and he averted his eyes. “I… he asked me out. And I sort of… said yes. And dated him for like a full week before realizing there was like, no way. Just. No way.”

Sorey didn’t know if he wanted to laugh or cry at the idea of Mikleo dating someone else, if only for such a short time. “Did you… have any other boyfriends in France?”

Mikleo shook his head so fast his ponytail whipped. “No way. Zaveid was the only person I even came close to dating, and like I said, I kind of hate him.” Mikleo bit his lip, eyes darting away from Sorey and back again. “What about you? You must have dated someone in all this time, right?”

“Uh, I guess so? Technically?” Sorey answered hesitantly, making Mikleo smile. “I uh, have this friend Alisha, and I’m pretty sure she thought we were dating when we first started hanging out. And I guess I tried to have some kind of feelings for her, but it was pretty obvious pretty fast that wasn’t going anywhere, and we just sort of fell into being regular friends instead of ever really dating.”

Mikleo’s smile was warm, and it made Sorey’s insides squirm like butterflies from hell were occupying his guts. You know, in a good way. “So you never had any interest in love, then? With all the poetry I used to catch you writing, I’d think you were a hopeless romantic.”

Sorey smiled bashfully, scratching the back of his head. “Well, it’s not that I never wanted all that stuff, I was just… waiting.”

“For the right partner?” Mikleo finished for him brushing a lock of hair behind his ear. “Yeah, I can, ah. Relate to that.”

Sorey looked out onto the dance floor, thinking of all the romantic things they’d both been missing out on. Things he didn’t want to miss out on anymore, now that the right partner had finally returned to him.

“Mikleo,” He said suddenly, pushing his empty dinner plate aside. “Come dance with me.”

Mikleo flushed in another blush, averting his eyes. “S-Sorey, don’t be silly. We’re in public, and we’re both guys.”

“So what? This place is too fancy for anyone to make a fuss if they don’t like it. All they can do is stare, and be jealous of how beautiful you are.”

Mikleo flushed even brighter, but when Sorey stood up and offered his hand Mikleo ended up taking it. “Only because we’ll probably never be back here again,” he said as an excuse, letting Sorey lead him over to the dance floor.

Mikleo’s hand fit nicely in his, but when Sorey put a hand on his waist to drag their bodies closer together, he decided that the way they fit together was perfect in every way. Mikleo’s waist was slim and his shoulders swooped almost delicately downwards, and he was tall enough now that Sorey only had to look down the slightest bit for them to meet eye to eye. Up close like this Sorey could see how devastatingly beautiful Mikleo really was, and with nothing but the music to distract him from that it was hard not to just sort of lose himself in Mikleo’s eyes.

Mikleo’s smile turned just a little sassy, and Sorey knew he was going to make a snide comment about them standing still in the mile of the dance floor, so Sorey headed him off by taking the first step forward into the dance. Mikleo went with him easily, and Sorey just let himself fall into the feel of the music, concentrating less on Mikleo’s face and more on not stepping on his toes.

Eventually they found their rhythm, and Sorey led Mikleo all up and down the dance floor in quiet circles, finding this too, to be as easy as breathing. Mikleo moved with him on every step they took, following Sorey’s lead like they were one in the same person, movements flowing like water.

“I’m so glad you’re here, Mikleo,” Sorey whispered, grateful for the opportunity to stare into Mikleo’s eyes and hold him in his arms. “And I can’t wait to learn everything about you, all over again.” Couldn’t wait to fall in love with Mikleo all over again.

Mikleo’s eyes were soft and his smile was genuine. “I’m glad I came back, too.”

And with that, Mikleo relaxed, leaning his head into Sorey’s shoulder and melting into his front, any space left between their bodies evaporated. Sorey could feel Mikleo’s heartbeat like this, could feel Mikleo’s body heat and his weight as he leaned into Sorey and let himself be led in a slow and intimate dance in front of strangers.

Mikleo’s heartbeast was strong, and steady, and just a little bit fast.

\--

“Come on,” Sorey grinned, grabbing Mikleo’s hand and leading him up the staircase. “We’re almost there.”

Mikleo let himself be led with a smile, laughter in his voice as he asked, “Almost where, the roof?”

“Yeah, the roof!” Sorey confirmed with a smile, unlocking the door that led up to the unoccupied roof of the dorm building he lived in. “We’re not really supposed to be up here, though, so try to keep it down.”

“Yes, because I’m naturally such a rambunctious person.”

Sorey laughed, leading Mikleo to sit down next to an air conditioner. “I’m sorry if this is lame, I just thought it might be nice to watch the stars together.”

Mikleo settled down close enough to Sorey for their shoulders to press together, close enough to share body heat. “No… you're right. I don’t stop and enjoy the stars enough.”

Sorey smiled, wrapping an arm around Mikleo’s shoulders. 

Mikleo only laughed a quiet little chuckle at the action, leaning in closer and going, “You’re so unsubtle. I don’t know why I would have expected anything else, considering it’s you.”

“Is that a bad thing?” Sorey asked, suddenly worried. “Should I have like… shown a little restraint?”

Mikleo shook his head, smiling. “No way. I wouldn’t want you to be anything less than Sorey, after all. If anything I’m impressed by your confidence.”

“Oh, well I guess impressing you was kind of the point.” Sorey said with a laugh. “I don’t know about confidence though, I just wanted to show you a good time.”

“I could tell. You really went all out. The dinner, the dancing, and now the cuddling under the stars, and all.”

Whoops. Looks like he’d shown his entire hand and been seen through. Guess he HAD been a little obvious about the whole… This Is A Date thing. “I just… Really missed you a lot, Mikleo. And I got excited at the chance to be with you again.”

Mikleo dipped his head down to hide his blush. “You… you can say that, but we barely know each other anymore. You don’t even know the person I grew into over the last few years, and as much as you seem like you haven’t changed, I know there are a lot of things I don’t know about you anymore, either. We’re not kids anymore, Sorey.”

“I know but… Isn’t that just more exciting?” Sorey asked, forcing Mikleo to look at him again. “I wanted to take you out tonight so we could learn more about each other, Mikleo. Isn’t that what you want, too?”

Mikleo bit his lip, eyes averting away from Sorey again. “I mean… it is, yeah.”

“Mikleo,” Sorey said softly, feeling the way Mikleo shivered under his arm. “I… I’ve been in love with you since we were six years old. And even though you tried to break my heart and make me forget about you, I never stopped loving you all these years..”

“It’s…” Mikleo responded quietly. “It’s not like I didn’t already know. You used to write me poetry for god’s sake, Sorey. I always knew you loved me.”

Sorey grinned. “Mikleo! Fairer than Venus, More handsome than Frey, Won’t you come play Donkey Kong with me today?” Sorey recited, the only poem he managed to remember from when he had been thirteen and lovesick.

It made Mikleo laugh, just as it had when they were kids. “Sorey… I really did miss you. And I guess I have to admit, part of the reason I came to a school so close to our hometown was in hopes that I’d see you again someday. I just didn’t think… Didn’t dare to hope that everything would go so…”

Sorey’s arm tightened around Mikleo’s shoulders, and he turned in to face Mikleo and look directly in his eye. “Mikleo… Please? Say it’s not too late to give me a chance? You don’t have to love me yet, but...”

“Oh Sorey,” Mikleo sighed, a little smile gracing his lips. “Of course I love you. Nothing could ever have made me stop.”

Sorey leaned in closer, close enough to be able to count Mikleo’s long eyelashes. “Mikleo… I’ve waited so long. Can I…?”

Mikleo nodded almost imperceptibly unconsciously licking his bottom lip. Sorey leaned in to kiss that lip, sighing into the kiss as Mikleo’s hand clutched at the fabric on Sorey’s shirt, tilting his head to open up the kiss.

It was just as magical as Sorey had always imagined. Not that there were fireworks going off behind his eyes or anything like the stories said, but it was real, and it was Mikleo, and that made it better than anything else Sorey could have ever imagined.

\--


End file.
